We don’t want to speak for you, but until last night, we didn’t even know that cheeseburger tacos existed. Enter Alex Stupak, chef at New York City’s Empellon Cocina and Empellon Tacqueria. Yesterday he and his team took over the Saveur test kitchen to cook up carnitas tacos, clam popsicles, and the unreal, extra-gooey cheeseburger-taco mashup that he and writer Jordana Rothman include in their soon-to-be-released book, Tacos: Recipes and Provocations. We quickly became believers as the SAVEUR family and friends tore through plate after plate of them.
Between the four types of salsa verde served with the tacos, the mezcal cocktails (and shots), the masa and micheladas, we’d say we had another successful Saveur supper. Plus, we all got to take home our own copy of the cookbook (out October), so now, we’ll be making our own cheeseburger tacos at home.
Alex Stupak plates charred corn with epazote flan, which he served at the start of dinner. Matt Taylor-Gross
The stacked menu. Matt Taylor-Gross
Ted Allen, cookbook author and host of Chopped, and Camille Becerra, chef at New York City’s Navy. Matt Taylor-Gross
Jordana Rothman, author of Tacos: Recipes and Provocations, and Stupak. Matt Taylor-Gross
Editor-in-Chief Adam Sachs and Stupak with two cold shots of El Mayor Añejo tequila. Matt Taylor-Gross
Stupak plating miniature gorditas with a salsa verde mousse on a bed of maize. Matt Taylor-Gross
The grapefruit margarita: Mezcal Unión, Giffard Pamplemousse, pink grapefruit juice, and citrus salt. Matt Taylor-Gross
Avocado with bread crumbs and crab, one of many small bites during cocktail hour. Matt Taylor-Gross
And the first dish served once we took our seats: oysters with nixtamalized popcorn. Matt Taylor-Gross
Stupak and his crew. Matt Taylor-Gross
The cheeseburger tacos. Naturally, we had to instagram them.
Photographers Andrea Gentl and Marcus Nilsson. Matt Taylor-Gross
Alan Sytsma (editor of New York Magazine’s Grub Street), Mari Uyehara (SAVEUR senior editor), and Jordana Rothman (writer and author of Tacos). Matt Taylor-Gross
We started and ended the meal with shots. Matt Taylor-Gross
